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> First, we have less severe variants now. Please don't assume that future variants will be less and less severe. It's what we all want to hear, but this "covid is over" mentality is what will help produce the next, possibly really nasty, variant.
Of course, more severe variants can always develop. Holds same for flu, HIV, ... not just COVID.
> First, we have less severe variants now. Please don't assume that future variants will be less and less severe. It's what we all want to hear, but this "covid is over" mentality is what will help produce the next, possibly really nasty, variant.
I don't understand why people are so against taking an easy W like this.
> And you can wear masks if you are uncomfortable on the plane or the subway. We’ve normalized mask-wearing in the US now and that is a good thing. I really hope he's right and it's normalized, but I do fear that many people will go back to not staying at home and not wearing masks when they feel sick. And people who do wear masks, will do so catching lampooning gazes from others.
I like them, they provide privacy from people and cameras, while also increasing protection from many viruses and bacteria (provided you don't take it off to scratch your nose).
Common cold and the flu has gotten way less common since 2020. Freaking amazing, since the symptoms can literally incapacitate me for a week or two. I hate the cold and flu.
> And you can wear masks if you are uncomfortable on the plane or the subway. We’ve normalized mask-wearing in the US now and that is a good thing. I really hope he's right and it's normalized, but I do fear that many people will go back to not staying at home and not wearing masks when they feel sick. And people who do wear masks, will do so catching lampooning gazes from others.
> And you can wear masks if you are uncomfortable on the plane or the subway. My understanding was that mask-wearing was mostly to protect others . Has that changed?
> First, we have less severe variants now. Please don't assume that future variants will be less and less severe. It's what we all want to hear, but this "covid is over" mentality is what will help produce the next, possibly really nasty, variant.
Can you back this up? It's my understanding that our actions now have almost no bearing on what happens with future variants.
> And you can wear masks if you are uncomfortable on the plane or the subway. We’ve normalized mask-wearing in the US now and that is a good thing. I really hope he's right and it's normalized, but I do fear that many people will go back to not staying at home and not wearing masks when they feel sick. And people who do wear masks, will do so catching lampooning gazes from others.
> And you can wear masks if you are uncomfortable on the plane or the subway. My understanding was that mask-wearing was mostly to protect others . Has that changed?
Is it?
I mean, I’d like that to be true too.
…but are things not still a bit too screwed up to be pretending everything is fine quite yet?
> The current 7-day moving average of new deaths (1,749) has decreased 0.3% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (1,754). As of January 19, 2022, a total of 856,288 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the United States.
(https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidvi...)
It really doesn't seem we have other 'pressing matters' , unless those matters are manufactured somehow. Can the world return to its habits of consuming recklessly, traveling like there's no tomorrow, office routine every day, low tech schooling and ignore the fact that it's largely unprepared for a new pandemic? Maybe, but it would seem more like reckless yoloers than future-thinking people.
Unfortunately our education (comparing US and UK) are both not going to be solved by increased tech imo (not in the sense of tablets for all). But as I've said for years we should be seriously looking at airflow in educational establishments, as well as improved buildings.
Having been on both sides of the lecture hall and teaching environment, a well ventilated room helps huge amounts for concentration and informed debate. Air quality can drag down the room and atmosphere as well as being unhealthy.
> First, we have less severe variants now. Please don't assume that future variants will be less and less severe. It's what we all want to hear, but this "covid is over" mentality is what will help produce the next, possibly really nasty, variant.
I thought the general theory of "virus evolution" was towards less severe variants. Of course, more severe variants can always develop. Holds same for flu, HIV, ... not just COVID.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/08/facebook-p...